I was a campus inspector of buildings and grounds in New Orleans, when a student in seminary. I walked up the stairs to inspect a room, before it was to be occupied. I looked at the door, and for the first time in life read three capital letters, side-by-side, on the door and in silver metal: VIP. I wondered what VIP meant, as it seemed to call attention to itself as something very important, standing out as it did from the surrounding painted white wood. The whole door seemed to be called to that one message, that one center calling out, as though saying, "Pay attention to this!." I inspected the room, then went downstairs to find out what VIP meant. I was informed: Very Important Person. So, at about age 27, I had been initiated into the illusory VIP world, which, of course, I, and those like I am, had never belonged to and would not belong to. It did not make sense to me, then, especially that being a Bible-believing Christian campus where, I assumed, no one would be seen on Earth as superior to - un-equal to - anyone else - certainly not, I assumed, after learning all my life about this unconditional love of God and how Jesus identified with the not-important, not the VIP group. At least, that is what I had been told all my life that we believed, having been raised a devoted Christian and, also, I had been preaching this no-one-is-better-than-anyone-else Message for about 10 years, by then. Apparently, I had assumed wrongly; that is, equality was no as central to much of my faith group as I had assumed. Now, 30 years later, VIP still makes no sense to me - I hope it never does.

*Arem Nahariim-Samadhi